Revealing policy barriers in diabetes care: how we can improve outcomes

A report by PwC and EFPIA

Diabetes has a significant impact on the health, welfare, and productivity of Europe’s population. Complications arising from the disease have a profound effect on health systems’ resilience and costs throughout Europe. It’s clear that gaining control of diabetes must be a Europe-wide imperative.

But while innovations in treatment for diabetes hold out the promise of alleviating much of the disease burden, there is considerable variation in access to those advances across European countries. Clinical guidelines that reflect the latest scientific evidence are far from uniformly followed. This paper from PwC and the EFPIA explores the reasons behind that variability.

The paper reveals the policies at national and local levels that are creating barriers to more consistent and effective pan-European treatment of diabetes. Based on those insights, the paper outlines the principles and actions that European and national policymakers can use to overcome the barriers and reshape their future activities. The aim is to ensure that all people with diabetes in Europe can receive the best possible treatments to improve their health and quality of life.

Download the report

This study was prepared jointly with EFPIA.

Launch Webinar European Public Health Week

Watch our launch webinar with EFPIA from May 24, 2023 with our guest speakers Prof. Stefano Del Prato, European Diabetes Forum, Maurizio Guidi, EFPIA Diabetes Platform, and Sandra Canudas Maturana, Diabetes Association of Catalonia. The event was held as part of the European Public Health Week 2023.

Access webinar recording

Recommendations for national policy makers

Policy barriers exist at the national level, and as such should be discussed and addressed locally. That means taking into account specific resource availability, governance mechanisms, financing mechanisms and settings of care provision. The experts consulted during this study, as well as the overall diabetes community, agree that to mitigate the impact of policy barriers, national policy makers should consider the following actions: